Happy Birthday Mom!

It's a great day today. Not only is it a gorgeous day here in Virginia but I get to spend it with my Mom on her birthday! She came over for breakfast and as you can see she looks great! We had a great visit and will get together again this afternoon and tonight the rest of the family will join us for Peking Duck at our favorite Chinese restaurant.

The musician

My nephew showed me what he has been learning on the violin. He was playing a song by "Queen" and thought it might be better if there was singing along with his playing. He found a YouTube clip of Queen to accompany. It was so cute!

The cousins visit Alexandria!

We had a wonderful visit with my cousin Molly and her son Colby who is looking at colleges in the area for 2011. They spent nearly a week on the road checking out a number of schools. The picture below gives you an idea of how tall Colby is - at 17 years old, he is over 6'5". My niece Sara and nephew Tilghman "Zeb" adore him. Zeb stood next to him and slowly looked up at him and was heard saying "man, you are HUGE!".

Wickles

I am officially hooked on these wickedly delicious pickles! If you like pickled anything you must try these. My friends on Anna Maria shared these yummy pickles with me and now I am sharing with you!

From RachelRay.com :: These winners start off sweet and end with a bang, thanks to a blend of dill, garlic, cider vinegar and fiery chile peppers. An Alabama family started selling the pickles, made from a secret 78-year-old recipe, just 8 years ago (before then, they just gave them away as gifts). Judges loved the "supervinegary" taste and "serious kick." Raved one, "They taste homemade."

From the company website: "Using a secret 70-year old family recipe differentiates Wickles products from all others. A custom blend of spices and ingredients makes our products Wickedly Delicious and truly irresistible. The recipe is a family secret that until a few years ago was just used for family and friends who were lucky enough to get a jar. When we started making Wickles for holiday gifts we never imagined those wicked little pickles would take on a life of their own."

Charleston, SC

On my return from AMI I stopped in Charleston for a couple days to visit with my dear friend Carolyn's daughter Elizabeth. Elizabeth was in the process of looking for a new apartment so I helped her find a nice place to live. Here is a picture of Elizabeth, on the right, with her new roommate in front of their new apartment complex.

The view from their balcony - not too shabby!

And a little shopping trip at Target for some essentials!

Whale car

During my drive north through Florida I spotted this car that I had to take a picture of. It was a VW bug painted to look like a whale. There was a big fin on the roof and a tail on the back. I took this on the highway just outside of Orlando - I assume the whale car was headed to Seaworld!

Wine tasting

Enjoyed a lovely evening of wine tasting on my last evening on Anna Maria Island. Our host selected 6 wines from Chile which the group sampled and enjoyed very much. As you can see it was quite well done!

Bonus was the great view of the Gulf and the sunset over their endless pool

:

Nothing like a morning of fishing

Up at sunrise....

Ed pulls the first grouper in

Then Cindy

No picture of me catching but here is our collective catch. We caught 20 + each but only had 5 keepers (over 22 inches)

These groupers are real fighters and give you one heck of a work out!

Thanks Andy and Molli

It's so hard to see the wonderful season here on Anna Maria come to a close and to leave friends behind but the time has come for some of us to return to our "other lives! Tonight we enjoyed each others company one more time thanks to our generous hosts Molli and Andy who treated us to a wonderful evening at the "Sign of the Mermaid". Thanks for the memories!

Molli and Andy:

Sally, Julie, Robyn and Cheryl:

the "triplets"

Ed, Kadee and Cindy

Boating Monday

Another fine day on the water! Captain Andy took the gals (Molli, Julie, Sally, Robyn, Cheryl and myself) for a little ride (about 4 hours) today! We stopped at the Starfish on Cortez for a yummy blackened mahi mahi salad. Robyn even took a turn at the helm.

Another perfect sunset

Well, the Sunday night sunset ritual continues. This week Ed and Cindy hosted an awesome party and gorgeous sunset. We have evolved from a cold beer and meeting on the beach to a feast of grouper bites, bacon wrapped scallops, cheeses and more. Another great night on AMI!

Friday night......

What can I say - it's Friday night and Donna Summer was in the air?????

Dolphins!

After a very busy week, friends treated us to a relaxing and most enjoyable pontoon boat excursion. Here is the craft

Captain Andy

Pelicans all in a row

A pair of dolphins who led the way

A little showing off in our honor

Easter Sunset

After an extremely busy day at Rudy's we relaxed at the beach with friends and enjoyed another gorgeous sunset. This has become our Sunday night ritual and everyone looks forward to it!

Happy Easter

It's been an extremely busy weekend on Anna Maria Island and the gorgeous weather we have been having just makes it that much better! Easter bunny cookies and cupcakes are made and ready for the hungry egg hunters. Hope everyone has a special day.

Hopping down the bunny trail

The bunny and egg cookies and the cupcakes are flying out the door at Rudy's. Sally has been making some festive treats which fill the pastry case in the morning. They are selling as fast as she can decorate them! Lots of orders for Easter Sunday to keep us busy, busy, busy this weekend.

They love Anna Maria

Fred and Mary Etta loved their first visit to Anna Maria so much they battled the traffic from Tampa and returned on Wednesday for some beach time and lunch at Rudy's! I suspect they will become regular annual visitors! Yeah!